〈接續〉

　　“這個嗎，我自己也沒弄明白。”吉姆斯說，他並不在乎主人那張板起的面孔，“我覺得當官的從有錢的白人裡頭選才對，而不是從住在沼澤地的窮光蛋中選。”

　　“他不是垃圾！難道你把他看成是真正的窮光蛋白人斯萊特裡了嗎?阿伯爾並不富，不過是個小農場主，而不是大農場主，要是士兵們敬重他，選他做了少尉，那就絕對不許哪個黑小子說他的壞話。騎兵隊自然不會看錯人。”

　　騎兵隊是三個月前組建的，就是在佐治亞州脫離聯邦的那一天。從那一天起，應征入伍的新兵就時刻準備打仗。部隊的名稱還有待確定，不過大夥兒提了不少建議。對這個問題，每個人都有自己的看法，都願意堅持己見。同樣，大家對軍裝的顏色和樣式也是各執一詞，“克雷頓野貓”、“食火人”、“北佐治亞輕騎兵”、“義勇軍”、“大陸步槍手”(盡管騎兵隊的武器只有手槍、軍刀和獵刀，壓根兒就沒有步槍)、“克雷頓灰衣隊”、“霹靂血”、“閃擊敢死隊”，凡此種種，都有人擁護。反正這事目前還沒有定下來，大家暫且管這個組織叫騎兵隊。盡管後來終於采用了一個十分誇張的名稱，他們還是憑其實際作用以“騎兵隊”聞名。

　　軍官由士兵選舉產生，因為全縣上下沒人打過仗，只有個別老兵參加過墨西哥戰爭和西米諾爾戰爭，而騎兵隊肯定不屑於讓一個老兵當他們的指揮官，除非他取得了他們的一致愛戴和信任。盡管大家都喜歡塔爾頓家的四兄弟，也喜歡方丹家的三兄弟，可惜不能讓他們當指揮官，因為塔爾頓家的幾個兄弟常常喝得爛醉，愛胡吹亂侃，而方丹家的弟兄幾個又都是性情急躁、火暴脾氣。阿希禮·韋爾克斯被推選為上尉，因為論馬術，全縣就數他最好，另外他頭腦冷靜，部隊可以靠他嚴明軍紀。雷福特·卡爾弗特被推選為中尉，因為大家都喜歡他。阿伯爾·溫德被選為少尉，阿伯爾是沼澤地一家獵戶的兒子，自己是個小農場主。

　　阿伯爾是個精明人，總是那麽嚴肅，身材魁梧，目不識丁，心地善良。和其他青年相比，他歲數大一些，在女士面前他的風度毫不遜色，甚至略勝一籌。這支部隊裡，大家都不勢利，他們的父輩、祖父輩有許多都是從小農場主做起，逐漸發家致富的。另外，阿伯爾還是全縣裡最好的射擊手，能在七十五碼以外，打中松鼠的眼睛。而且他對野外生活很在行。雨天如何生火，如何追蹤獵物，如何尋找飲水，這些統統不在話下。騎兵隊員對他的為人都很敬佩，就是因為喜歡他，才選他當官。他嚴肅地接受了這一榮譽，毫不得意驕傲，仿佛這是他應盡的義務。但是他並非紳士出身，這一點，莊園裡的太太、小姐和黑奴們倒是看得很重，盡管她們家裡的先生們都覺得無所謂。

　　創建之初，騎兵隊隻招募農場主的子弟，建成了一支紳士軍隊。各人自帶馬匹、武器裝備、軍服和男仆。但是克林頓縣的歷史並不長，有錢的農場主沒幾個，所以為組建這樣一支強悍的騎兵隊，就不得不擴大招兵范圍，招募小農場主、偏僻森林裡的獵戶、沼澤地獵戶、鄉下破落戶的子弟，偶爾甚至還招募窮白人家的子弟，只要他們的家境超過同等階層的一般水平就可以了。

　　一旦開戰，後面這些小夥子們就會立即和富有的鄰居一道與北佬作戰，然而隨之而來的棘手問題是錢的事。小農人家很少有擁有馬匹的。他們乾農活兒用的是騾子，

而且沒有多余的騾子，很少有超過四匹的。即便騎兵隊可以接受騾子，這些騾子也騰不出來供騎兵隊使用，況且騎兵隊根本不會接受騾子。至於那些窮白人，有一匹騾子就會覺得很富了。偏僻森林和沼澤地的鄉民既無馬匹也沒有騾子，他們完全靠田裡的莊稼和沼澤地帶的獵物維生，做買賣的方式一般是以物易物，一年到頭連五塊錢的現金也見不著，所以馬匹和軍服是他們不能奢望的東西。但是他們對自己的貧窮就像農場主對自己的富裕一樣自豪，絕不會從富有的鄰居那裡接受任何略帶施舍性質的東西。所以，一方面要考慮大家的感情問題，另一方面還要把騎兵隊建成一支強悍的戰鬥隊，於是斯佳麗的父親、約翰·韋爾克斯、巴克·芒羅、吉姆·塔爾頓、休·卡爾弗特等人，事實上除了安格斯·麥英托士，全縣每個大農場主都出了錢，把騎兵隊從頭到尾裝備起來，包括士兵和馬匹。這樣一來，農場主們人人都同意給自家的子弟以及若乾名其他人出錢買裝備，但這事安排得很巧妙，不那麽富有的騎兵隊員可以接受馬匹和軍服，而感情並沒有受到傷害。　　“I’m going to beat your hide off for that，” cried Stuart fiercely.“Don’t you call Able Wynder‘po’ white.’ Sure he’s poor， but he ain’t trash; and I’m damned if I’ll have any man， darky or white， throwing off on him. There ain’t a better man in this County， or why else did the Troop elect him lieutenant?”

　　“Ah ain’ never figgered dat out， mahseff，” replied Jeems， undisturbed by his master’s “Look ter me lak dey’d’lect all de awficers frum rich gempmum，’stead of swamp trash.”

　　“He ain’t trash！ Do you mean to compare him with real white trash like the Able just ain’t rich. He’s a small farmer， not a big ， and if the boys thought enough of him to elect him lieutenant， then it’s not for any darky to talk impudent about him. The Troop knows what it’s doing.”

　　The troop of cavalry had been organized three months before， the very day that seceded from the ， and since then the recruits had been whistling for war. The outfit was as yet unnamed， though not for want of Everyone had his own idea on that subject and was loath to relinquish it， just as everyone had ideas about the color and cut of the uniforms.“ Wild Cats，”“Fire Eaters，”“North Hussars，”“Zouaves，”“The Rifles”(although the Troop was to be armed with pistols， sabers and bowie knives， and not with rifles)，“The Grays，”“The Blood and Thunderers，”“The Rough and Readys，” all had their adherents. Until matters were settled， everyone referred to the as the Troop and， despite the high-sounding name finally adopted， they were known to the end of their usefulness simply as“The Troop.”

　　The officers were elected by the members， for no one in the County had had any military experience except a few veterans of the Mexican and Seminole wars and， besides， the Troop would have a veteran as a leader if they had not personally liked him and trusted him. Everyone liked the four Tarleton boys and the three Fontaines， but regretfully refused to elect them， because the Tarletons got lickered up too quickly and liked to ， and the Fontaines had such quick， murderous tempers. Ashley Wilkes was elected captain， because he was the best rider in the County and because his cool head was counted on to keep some of order. Raiford Calvert was made first lieutenant， because everybody liked Raif， and Able Wynder， son of a swamp trapper， himself a small farmer， was elected lieutenant.

　　Able was a shrewd， grave giant， illiterate， kind of heart， older than the other boys and with as good or better manners in the presence of ladies. There was little snobbery in the Troop. Too many of their fathers and grandfathers had come up to wealth from the small farmer for that. Moreover， Able was the best shot in the Troop， a real sharpshooter who could pick out the eye of a squirrel at seventy-five yards， and， too， he knew all about living outdoors， building fires in the rain， tracking animals and finding water. The Troop bowed to real worth and moreover， because they liked him， they made him an officer. He bore the honor gravely and with no untoward conceit， as though it were only his due. But the ’ ladies and the ’ could not overlook the fact that he was not born a gentleman， even if their men folks could.

　　In the beginning， the Troop had been recruited exclusively from the sons of ， a gentleman’s outfit， each man supplying his own horse， arms， equipment， uniform and body servant. But rich were few in the young county of ， and， in order to muster a full-strength troop， it had been necessary to raise more recruits among the sons of small farmers， hunters in the backwoods， swamp trappers， Crackers and， in a very few cases， even poor whites， if they were above the average of their

　　These latter young men were as to fight the Yankees， should war come， as were their richer neighbors; but the delicate of money arose. Few small farmers owned horses. They carried on their farm with mules and they had no surplus of these， seldom more than four. The mules could not be spared to go off to war， even if they had been for the Troop， which they emphatically were not. As for the poor whites， they considered themselves well off if they owned one mule. The backwoods folks and the swamp dwellers owned neither horses nor mules. They lived entirely off the produce of their lands and the game in the swamp， conducting their business generally by the barter system and seldom seeing five in cash a year， and horses and uniforms were out of their reach. But they were as fiercely proud in their poverty as the were in their wealth， and they would nothing that smacked of charity from their rich neighbors. So， to save the feelings of all and to bring the Troop up to full strength， Scarlett’s father， John Wilkes， Buck Munroe， Jim Tarleton， Hugh Calvert， in fact every large in the County with the one of Angus MacIntosh， had contributed money to completely outfit the Troop， horse and man. The upshot of the matter was that every agreed to pay for equipping his own sons and a certain number of the others， but the manner of handling the arrangements was such that the less wealthy members of the outfit could horses and uniforms without offense to their honor.

　　摘自美國小說《飄》

　　從上面的文字看出，美國南北戰爭爆發前的南方，其戰爭動員和籌備的一些具體細節。南方的那些大莊園主，包括Scarlett的父親在內，很明白他們要什麽、捍衛什麽，所以，他們很大方地出錢出力，支持戰爭。

　　南方參戰部隊的組成和訓練，有南方民間力量的加入，是半強製性地組建。原則上誰錢多，加入後的話語權更大。但是，打仗的部隊，其衡量標準不是錢啊，而是要能打仗啊。那些有太多錢的公子哥們整日酗酒是不勝任軍官職的，於是便有了士兵推舉軍官制度。一些有錢人家的公子哥加入部隊以後，心裡雖不服，但必須接受，這是人類社會的因勢而立的客觀現實。在一社會群體中，個人的實力大小因社會大勢變化帶來的衡量標準的變化而會大變動的。

　　〈待續〉